Faulty £1 coins leave a hole in your pocket
THOUSANDS of the new £1 coins could have a fault that leaves them looking like a Polo mint – with the middle falling out, the Royal Mint admitted yesterday
“Variances” have crept into the manufacturing process and some of the coins – supposedly the world’s most secure – are misshapen, cracked, warped or with the middle “bleeding” into the outer circle or becoming detached.
Embarrassed officials at the South Wales-based mint tried to play down the problem saying only a small number of those coming into circulation could be affected.
The public has already started to report faulty coins in their change.
Collector John Taylor, of Crystal Palace, south London, said he had found a £1 with the centre missing and others with “miss-strikes.”
He added: “It’s a Royal Mint error. The sellers on eBay claimed that they had come from a sealed bag from their bank, which in turn came from the Royal Mint.”
Tamzin Nye, 18, of Deal, Kent, was handed the new coin in a shop and found it misshapen and with a gap between the outer ring and the silver-coloured core.
She said: “How did it get out of the Royal Mint? It could be a fake but it’s meant to be ‘unfakeable’.”
Stephen Hamilton, of Mexborough, South Yorkshire, said that he had found six faulty coins since the launch.
The 66-year-old former coal miner added: “I find it hard to believe that our famous Royal Mint has now produced so many variations of the so-called secure £1 coin by error. This makes me wonder if proper checks are being carried out on the minting machines.”
Sarah O’Donoghue, of Birmingham, said the silver middle of her £1 coin had bled into the outer gold ring, adding: “It was all melted and out of shape.”
The 12-sided coin was launched in March and all 1.5 billion will be in circulation in months. They are meant to carry a hologram that makes them impossible to forge but there have been a number of cases where this feature is missing. Some of the faulty, warped coins are being sold on auction website eBay for up to £5,000. The new coins have had other teething problems including failing to operate slot machines and shopping trolleys.
The old coins will cease to be legal tender on October 15.
The Royal Mint at Llantrisant, South Wales, is churning out three million new coins a day. They are based on the design of the old threepenny bit that went out of circulation in 1971.
Last year former Chancellor George Osborne claimed it was “the most secure circulating coin in the world” developed “with groundbreaking technology”.
Last night the Royal Mint said “variances” were always likely to slip past its quality control system because of the high volume of coins being made at speed.
A mint spokesman added: “The Royal Mint produces around five billion coins each year and will be striking 1.5 billion new £1 coins in total.
“We have tight quality controls. However, variances will occur in a small number of coins, particularly in the striking process.”